I began to wish I had just left Dekker alone. Forgotten about it, as Dave had told me to. Let Ricardo get away with it, in the same way everyone else did. But I hadn’t. And it was too late to go back now.
I missed Jamie the next morning. He left before the rest of the house was up, as usual. But I had breakfast with Kate and Oliver.
‘Did you talk to him?’ I asked her.
Kate turned to Oliver, who was still in his pyjamas chasing the last few Coco-Pops round his bowl with a spoon. ‘You can get down and play if you want, Ollie.’
He was off like a shot. He hated getting dressed in the morning, and this seemed like a possible reprieve.
‘No,’ she said, when he was gone.
I smiled with relief.
‘But you could have told me what you were doing!’ she protested.
‘I couldn’t,’ I said. ‘It would have put you in an impossible position.’
‘Well, what kind of position do you think I’m in now?’
I winced. Fair point. ‘Are you going to tell him?’
Kate shook her head. ‘No. I thought about it a lot last night. He’s better off not knowing. Then, whether Dekker survives as an independent firm or Bloomfield Weiss take it over, he should be all right.’
‘I’m sorry, Kate. But I’m doing the right thing.’
She nodded. ‘I know you are. And I hope you get the bastards!’
I called Stahl in New York that afternoon. Despite his elevated status, he seemed to like to talk to me directly. It angered his sidekicks, who resented the access I had to him.
‘How are we doing?’ I asked.
‘Great, Nick, great. I just got back from Geneva yesterday. I met with the directors of Chalmet. Boy, I put a rocket up their asses! They have no idea what’s going on at Dekker. In fact, I don’t think they know what their own emerging-markets guys are up to. But they’re scared. It’s beginning to dawn on them that all this great new Latino business isn’t as kosher as it might be. They didn’t even know that Chalmet were using hundreds of millions of their clients’ dough to fund Dekker!’ Stahl chuckled. ‘You should of seen their faces. It was like I’d dropped a whole cartload of shit right there on their pretty polished desks. Which I guess in a way you could say I had.’
‘So what are they going to do?’ I asked.
‘They want outa there, fast. They’ll sell.’
‘Excellent. Does that mean we’re there?’
‘Just about. We’re working to a deadline of June fourteen. There are still some numbers to be run, and Kerton’s got to get the SFA and the Stock Exchange to approve the transaction, but that shouldn’t be a problem. And then we have a done deal.’
The fourteenth of June. That was next Friday.
‘Great!’
‘Yeah. Nice deal, Nick.’
‘Does Ricardo know about it?’
‘Nope. He has no idea.’ Another laugh like a rasping saw. ‘I gotta go, Nick.’ The phone went dead.
I stared at the receiver in triumph. Yes!
I really was working when Kate knocked on my door.
‘Nick, phone. I think it’s Isabel’s father.’
I bounded down the stairs to the sitting room. Kate discreetly left me alone.
‘Luís! How are you?’
‘I don’t know, Nick. I have news.’
‘What is it?’
‘Isabel is still alive.’
My heart leaped. I felt a rush of elation, that was tempered immediately by fear. This was too good to be true.
‘Where is she? With you?’
‘No, Nick,’ said Luís. I knew from his tone what was coming next. ‘I heard from Zico. He says they still have her.’
Disappointment. And then fear again. ‘Have you proof of life?’
‘Yes, I have. After our previous experience, I didn’t want to contact you until I was sure she was really alive.’
‘What happened? Why didn’t they come back with proof of life before?’
‘I don’t know. Zico said that they gave up negotiations earlier because of the police raid. But it doesn’t quite make sense to me.’
It didn’t to me either. But Isabel was alive! ‘So, how much do they want this time?’
‘That’s the interesting thing, Nick. They don’t want money.’
‘Then what do they want?’
‘Zico said he wants you to call off the takeover of Dekker.’
I was stunned. How the hell did Zico know about the Dekker takeover? And what did he care?
‘Nick? Are you there?’
‘Yes, I am,’ I said. ‘It’s just quite a lot to take in at once. But it’s so good to know Isabel’s alive. Now we just have to work out how to get her home.’
‘What’s this Dekker takeover?’ Luís asked.
I took a deep breath and explained. Isabel’s safety was far more important than any duty of confidence I owed to Bloomfield Weiss.
Luís, of course, followed everything. ‘But why do the kidnappers care about Dekker?’
I thought aloud. ‘I don’t know. The one person I know who would be most concerned about Dekker being taken over is Ricardo.’
‘So does that mean he’s behind Isabel’s kidnap?’
‘I suppose so. Either him, or his brother Eduardo. It sounds more like something Eduardo would do.’
‘Filho da puta!’
‘But I didn’t think Ricardo knew about the takeover.’
‘Well, if Zico knows someone must have told him,’ muttered Luís. ‘And, by the way, he said something else.’ Luís’s voice was strained.
‘Yes?’
‘If we talk to the police, he will send us Isabel’s head.’
‘You mean...’ My stomach turned. ‘Oh, God.’
‘I spoke to Nelson. In fact, he’s here now.’
‘Good.’ I was glad that Nelson’s calming presence was close at hand. ‘What does he say?’
‘He doesn’t think we should tell the Rio police after what happened last time. He thinks there’s a chance the kidnappers were tipped off by one of them.’
‘That makes sense to me. What about going to the police in Britain? Ask him about that.’
I held for a time while Luís discussed with Nelson Ricardo and Eduardo’s likely involvement with the kidnappers.
‘Nelson thinks it’s risky. He says this threat is different from the usual bluster in kidnappings. Especially if they know we can link the kidnapping to an individual. If Ricardo or Eduardo or whoever it is gets a hint of police involvement, then the kidnappers will carry out their threat. But maybe you can trust the British police not to intervene.’
I didn’t have any idea what the British police would do. ‘Let’s leave them out of it, then,’ I said.
‘Good.’ There was relief in Luís’s voice.
‘So Zico wants me to call off Bloomfield Weiss?’
‘Can you?’ Luís’s voice was tentative, full of fear and hope.
‘I don’t know. How long have I got?’
‘A day and a half. Thursday at midnight, Brazilian time.’
That was interesting. Bloomfield Weiss were due to put in their offer on Friday.
‘And if I don’t?’
Luís whispered, ‘They kill her.’
‘And if I do, do they let her go?’
‘They say they will. But Nelson thinks they might hold out for a cash ransom as well. If they do, I’m happy to pay it.’
I thought it over. ‘I suppose if Eduardo is behind it, he won’t need the money. But he might want to keep her to stop us going to the police after she’s released.’
‘Maybe you’re right. But unless you call Bloomfield Weiss off, I think they will carry out their threat.’
That, at any rate, was clear.
‘OK, Luís. I’ll do what I can.’
I put the phone down, and thought over what Luís had said. Could Ricardo or Eduardo be behind Isabel’s kidnapping? Ricardo would go to almost any lengths to save Dekker. But would he go as far as kidnapping Isabel, his former lover? That I wasn’t sure of. But I remembered Eduardo’s threats to me and shivered. It would be no problem for him.